130-year-old fire put out

A fire which broke out more than 100 years ago at a coal field in western China was finally extinguished: “In the last four years, firefighters have spent $12m in efforts to put out the flames at Liuhuanggou colliery, near Urumqi in Xinjiang province. The burning coal emitted 100,000 tons of harmful gases – including carbon monoxide and sulphur dioxide – and 40,000 tons of ashes every year.”